EU Banking and Financial Law: Adopting New Regulatory and Supervisory Rules

The IMF acknowledged that the 2007-2008 financial crisis has been “the largest financial shock since the Great Depression” and while the exact causes of the crisis are open to interpretation, it is clear that the main cause was the financial meltdown of the whole system as we knew it. As described by Prof. N. Ferguson “the crisis... needs to be understood as a fundamental breakdown of the entire financial system, extending from the monetary-and-banking system through the bond market, the stock market, the insurance market and the real-estate market. It affects not only established financial institutions such as investment banks but also relatively novel ones such as hedge funds. It is global in scope and unfathomable in scale”.

During 2009 many concrete proposals were put on the table to impose more rigorous and stringent regulation, in particular on banks. But the entire financial architecture has been reviewed on both sides of the Atlantic, and views differ widely as to what, how extensive and how confining the new regulations should be.

In the early weeks of 2010 the US proposed the most far-reaching overhaul of the banking industry since the 1930s, including a ban on proprietary trading for banks’ own profit or investing in hedge funds and private equity groups, as well as imposing new size limits on banks.

At the same time the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision produced a comprehensive reform package to improve the banking sector’s ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress: these are new proposals to strengthen global capital and liquidity regulations. According to the BCBS a strong and resilient banking system is the foundation for sustainable economic growth: banks and financial institutions therefore need to be extra resilient.

The European Commission has adopted additional legislative proposals to strengthen financial supervision in Europe. How all these proposals and ideas on the financial architecture mesh together, and what the future of the new regulations will bring, will be the focus of this seminar. Expert thought leaders from the Commission, European Parliament, European Central Bank, BIS, academia and experts in the financial services sector will comment on the progress made and will provide useful documentation to policy makers, supervisors and to all financial services institutions in general.

The seminar will be held in English.

Programme
The programme will commence on Thursday 3 June at 09.00 hrs and finish on Friday 4 June at 16.00 hrs.

Seminar Venue Brussels
The seminar will take place at the CEN/CENELEC Meeting Centre, Room Newton A, Avenue Marnix 17, 1000 Brussels, tel.: +32.2.5196871.

Working language
The seminar will be conducted in English.

Fee
The participation fee is € 850 and includes documentation, 2 lunches, 1 dinner and refreshments. Accommodation and travel costs are at the expense of the participants or their administration. EIPA offers its members a reduction of 10% of the registration fee. This reduction is available to all civil servants working for one of EIPA’s member countries (i.e. AT, BE, BG, CY, CZ, DK, EE, FI, FR, DE, GR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, MT, NL, PL, PT, ES, SE, UK).

Hotel
Please note that EIPA has not made any special arrangements for a hotel in Brussels. However, together with the confirmation you will receive a list of hotels which are in the vicinity of CEN/CENELEC.

Meals
The lunches will be served at CENELEC and dinner on Thursday evening will be at a restaurant in the centre of Brussels. Should you require a special menu (e.g. vegetarian, diabetic), please inform the Programme Organiser so that this can be arranged.

Registration
Kindly complete the online registration form and return it before 19 May 2010. Your name and address will be part of EIPA’s database for our mailing purpose only. If you do not want to be included in our mailing database, please tick the box in the registration form.

Confirmation of registration will be forwarded to participants on receipt of the completed registration form.

Payment
Prior payment is a condition for participation. Please indicate the method of payment on the registration form. In any case, the participant or his/her administration will receive an invoice for the payment of the registration fee. For cancellations received after the date indicated on the registration form we will have to charge an administration fee of € 150 unless a replacement participant is found.

Cancellation policy
EIPA reserves the right to cancel the seminar up to 2 weeks before the starting date. EIPA accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred (travel, hotel, etc.). For EIPA’s cancellation policy, please visit our website www.eipa.eu (legal notice).